Heel.



UNITED STATES i vPATENF OFFICE.

GEORGE 13.- GROVER, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

HEEL.

-srEcrrrcngrroivl forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,095, dated March 31, 1903.

Application filed May 22, 1902| To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. GRovER, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heels, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention has relation to boots and shoes, and more particularly to heels therefor.

According to the division of labor heels are the subject of independent manufacture and are furnished in quantities to shoe manufacturers in sizes and shapes as required or demanded. In the process of manufacture they are built up of layers of leather or equivalent material which are secured together by glue and metallic fastenings and then subjected to pressure to firmly fit them for use. Each heel is attached to the outsole of a shoe by suitable fastenings, being again subjected to pressure upon the shoe in the operation of securing it thereto. The heel is then breasted, as it is called, on its front. Y

At present iu the compression of the hee the edge formed by the front and the seat of the heel is beveled, due to the presence of a lip on the compression-die, the object being to prevent the said corner from being forced into the relatively soft sole and thereby eX- pose to view an indentation in the sole after the heel is subjected to the breasting operation. The main difficulty met with in this construction of a heel with the beveled corner is that if the bevel be too great a crack is left between the heel and the sole, and if it be not enough the bevel will form the indentation which is left bare after the heel is 'l breasted.

The object of this invention is to so construct the heel that after'it is pressed upon the shoe it may be breasted without leaving a crack or indentation. Accordingly I form the heel with a bevel of relatively great angularity, which would ordinarily leave a crack after the breasting operation, and with means for crowding the material of the sole into the space between the bevel and the normal surface of the sole. The means which I employ consists of a projection left upon the seat of the heel in the initial pressing operation and located immediately in the rear of' the bevel or depression in the edge of the heel.

Serial No. 108,490. (No model.)

A further object of the invention is to so construct the heel as to prevent checking at the rear end wall of the heel after it is secured to` the sole. This is'accomplished by forming the seat of the heel with a raised portion, which causes the rear portion of the heel to be subjected to increased pressure in the heeling operation.

On the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents in plan view a heel embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a section through the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 represents in sectiona sole with the heel thereon. Figs. 4 and 5 represent a heel Without the raised portion at the rear. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate heels embodying other forms of the invention.

On the drawings the heel is indicated at ct. It is formed of layers of leather or analogous material secu red together in any suitable Way, as by nails or other fasteners and glue, cement, or other adhesive substance. In the compression of the heel it is formed with a concave seat b, as usual, to conform to the under surface of the sole c. The edge formed by the seat b and the breast dis sufciently compressed to provide a bevel e, a lower surface f in front of the bevel, and a rounded edge g. Immediately in the rear of the bevel is a projection or rib h, which extends transversely of the seat and which is left by the die so as to rise to a considerable extent above the surface of the seat.

The line which bounds the rear edge of the bevel is a rentrant curve which connects the outer ends and the breast, as shown in Figs. l and 4. The rib h may have a iiat top, as shown in Figs. 1,2, 3, and 4, or it may be substantially wedge-shaped, as in Fig. 6, and the surface f may be relatively wide, as shown in Fig. 7, so as to produce a sharper bevel c.

When a heel of this character is compressed upon a sole, as shown lin Fig. 3, the rib sinks into the softer material thereof and crowds it forward, so as to tightly iill the space between the surface f and the normal surface of said sole. This action of the rib is assisted by the relatively sharp angle of the bevel. Subsequently the breasting of the heel on the line a: fr, Fig. 3, or in front of said line and the removal of that portion of the heel in front of said line leaves the surface of the sole unmarred and unindented. The formation ofthe rounded edge further assists in preventing the indenting of the sole.

The heel may be formed with the crescentshaped rib t' in the seat near the rear edge, so that when it is compressed upon the solev the heel receives a greater compression at its rear end than at its middle, so as to prevent the possibility of the heel checking and to obviate the necessity of employing wedge-shaped lifts in the heel as now utilized for this purpose. The crescent conforms to the contour of the heel and operates to force the material in the sole outward toward its edge and provide for the heel receiving a greater compression at its rear end than its middle, as stated. This prevents the formation of cracks or checks in the heel.

For convenience of description I term the breast end of the heel the front end and the opposite end the rear end.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a Way of constructing and usingthe same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, I declare-that what I claim is- 1. As a new article of manufacture, a heel having a bevel at the edge formed by the seat and the breast, and a raised portion or rib in the rear of the bevel.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a heel having a relatively sharp bevel at the edge formed by the seat and the breast, and a surface, f, in front of said bevel.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a heel having a bevel at the edge formed by the seat and the breast, the edge of said bevel being rounded at g.

a. As a new article of manufacture, a heel having a bevel at the edge formed by the seat andthe breast, a surface f in front of said bevel, and a transverse rib in rear of said bevel.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a heel having a crescent-shaped rib projecting above the surface of the seatl at the rear end of the heel, said crescent conforming' to the contour of the heel.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my sig nature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE B. GROVER.

\Vitnesses:

M. B. WAY, C. C. STECHER. 

